By the Down The Cove editorial team in Cornwall
Gunwalloe sits on the western edge of the Lizard Peninsula, where the twin sands of Church Cove and Dollar Cove open onto Mounts Bay. Cared for by the National Trust, this dramatic stretch takes its name from the medieval church of St Winwaloe, which shelters in the dunes above the beach with its bell tower set apart against the cliffs.
Read the guideBeach and cove guide
A simple guide to the feel of the place, how to arrive, and what to keep in mind before you go.
Church Cove, Gunwalloe is the kind of place where the day is shaped by simple things: tide, weather, a picnic, and time to notice the coast properly.
Families, beach days, coast paths, rock pools and relaxed exploring.
Read straight through, or use the planning notes above to shape an easier coastal day.
Lifeguard cover changes by beach and season. Check the RNLI's current patrol dates before travelling, then follow local signs, flags and lifeguard advice on the day. Do not rely on a previous year's timetable.
Fresh air, good food and a bit of headspace. Here are two places to start.
Places and practical tips for days by the sea.
Ideas for preparing, cooking and enjoying seafood.
Editorial illustrations; explore the guides for place and recipe details.
Plan the final walk from the car park and check whether the beach is easy with pushchairs, tired legs or beach bags.
A useful read before visiting with children, especially for tides, paths, facilities and simple beach expectations.
Look up tide times, swimming guidance and weather before you go, especially on wilder beaches.
Gunwalloe sits on the western shore of the Lizard, looking out across the wide sweep of Mounts Bay. The two sandy coves here, Church Cove and Dollar Cove, are separated by a low rocky outcrop and are cared for by the National Trust, set within the Cornwall National Landscape. Both are sandy at low tide and fringed with rock pools, with Dollar Cove gathering a scatter of boulders at its margins. The setting is dramatic and open, the kind of place that feels properly elemental when the wind comes in off the sea.
Dollar Cove takes its name from a piece of local lore: the Spanish ship San Salvador is said to have been wrecked on the rocks here in the seventeenth century, scattering a cargo of silver coins that have surfaced on the beach ever since. It is one of several shipwreck tales attached to this exposed coast, and the medieval churchyard above the sand is the resting place of sailors lost along it.
The coves have also found a wider audience as a filming location for the television series Poldark, whose early episodes used this stretch of the Lizard to stand in for wilder, earlier Cornwall. For most visitors, though, the appeal is simpler: a sheltered patch of sand for a swim or a picnic, rock pools to explore as the tide drops, and the cliff path opening up views along Mounts Bay in either direction.
